Letter Bee – 4

Letter Bee‘s world is so strange.

It’s not just the names, although they are weird enough on their own. (“Love Someone Down”? I suppose a freak show deserves a bizarre name.) It is not even simply the terrain. (The Broccoli Forest is like an area from the children’s nightmare version of Candy Land.) There is just something about this world that is . . . I cannot even think of a proper way to describe it. Everything just comes together in a way that makes me go, “Hubbawaha?!” when I watch an episode. Not totally sure yet if that is a good or bad thing, however, haha.

In any case, this is an OK episode. I like the relationship between Lag and Niche, and it is good that Niche is able to escape from Love Someone Down without much help from Lag. (How could she be a good partner if she cannot escape from the least secure freak show ever?) And Lag is also able to prove his value by protecting Niche from the Gaichuu. Lag going Super Saiyan while Hulking up to destroy the Gaichuu is kind of silly, but whatever.

The memory connection continues to be one of the most interesting parts of the series. Divine brings up a good point by writing about how the use of the shindan appears to bring up only sad/bittersweet memories for those who happen to be in range. This appears to connect with Gauche’s statement that repeated use of the shindan eventually leaves the heart a hollow shell of its former self. I like how it allows for and somewhat encourages self-sacrifice — come on, using the heart as a weapon? — while at the same time, the consequences of using the weapon actively discourage self-sacrifice. (Nobody really thinks about the danger before they sacrifice themselves, unless they know they’ll be alive afterward and there will be some sort of side effect to it.) Not that this is really original in any way — pretty sure this type of power is a common trope — but still.

Don’t have too much more to say about this episode — kind of standard, maybe stretched out a bit long (strange considering each episode is 20 minutes only) but still enjoyable to watch in its own way. This episode springs out to me more as a bridge than something that stands on its own; it is a way to get Lag and Niche together, and the good stuff will happen from here on out.

I don’t think it has to be bittersweet memories shot by the shindan but whatever the person was thinking at that moment. Lag was thinking about how hard it was leaving Niche + he had still only just left the village he lived in so obviously that’s what he’s going to be thinking about. The same logic applies to the earlier episodes as well.